“What happened? Did you get into a fight with Jackson?” I felt something was obviously wrong.
Nick stopped for a while before shaking his head. “We’re good. There’s nothing to be worried about. How have you been? I haven’t heard from you for such a long time. I heard from mom that Summer was sick some time ago. How is she now?”
Jackson and Nick took care of Summer for quite some time. If Nick were asking about a random child, I would have understood his casual tone, but it was Summer we were talking about. He and Jackson took her as their own daughter. There was no way Nick would talk about her in such a detached manner.
“Nick, I know what happened between you and Jackson is your privacy. But I’m your sister, and I’m also Jackson’s friend. You have to at least let me know what’s happening. Do you have any idea how sick Summer was? She had acute leukemia, and she almost died because of it. I have no idea what happened between you and Jackson. I texted and I called, but none of you picked up. If both of you still take me as a friend, you will let me be in the know. I don’t understand why you guys are suddenly so cold to Summer and me—so much so that you would ignore us when we needed you all the most.”
Nick was genuinely shocked when he learned about Summer’s illness. It was apparent that Cameron did not fill him in on the details.
He fell into silence for a while before he looked at me again. “How is Summer? Is she okay?”
“She did a bone marrow and kidney transplant. She’s feeling better now but they’re still putting her under a five-year observation. If there is no sign of rejection from her body, then she doesn’t need to go through another transplant. But Nick, we’re not talking about Summer now, I want to know what happened between you and Jackson.”
Nick held his hands and tried to control his emotions. “He got a girl pregnant and went back to M Country with the woman,” he said after some time.
Nick sounded apathetic, but I was totally caught off guard by his statement. “What happened? I thought you liked him?”
Nick pursed his lips and looked at me in the eyes. “Do you find me disgusting?”
I shook my head in determination. “I believe all relationships are equal. The reason I asked is that I could see there was something between you and Jackson. I know both of you care for each other a lot. I had no idea what happened between the two of you, but now that I know, I just hope you guys find your happiness. Meeting and parting are part and parcel of life, but I really want to see each of you finding where you belong.”
“I think it’s best we both go our separate ways,” Nick said with his gaze fixed on the ground.
I could hear the regret and sorrow in his voice. After some thought, I asked him another question. “Do you like Rose?”
No one was perfect. We could not do everyone justice by giving them the affection they were due, but we could at least try our best and be accountable to ourselves.
“Rose is gentle, kind, and beautiful. She reminds me of you when you were younger. She’s a little stubborn and conflicting sometimes, but I think she’s the right person to spend the rest of my life with. If she is the one to marry, I’ll have no regrets for the rest of my life.”
I was surprised Nick would say that. Since he had made up his mind, I decided to respect his decision.
When Cameron and Rose came back down again, she was holding a set of jewelry in her hands. It was not something of an exorbitant price, but it was apparent that Rose liked her gift.
The lot stayed back for some chit-chat after lunch until evening. Hunter had a gathering with his colleagues at night, so he, Emery, and Xavier went home before dinner time. Not long after they left, Nick and Rose took leave too.
Just as I was thinking about spending some time with Summer, Camelia called. I almost forgot her as she had not contacted me in a long while.
“Hey, Camelia.” I hesitated and picked up the call.
“Hey, Sienna. Are you busy? Down for a drink?” She sounded tired.
“Sure, where are you?” I replied without a second thought.
“I’ll send you my address,” she replied before hanging up.
I planted a kiss on Summer’s head and said sorry before leaving for the bar.
I wonder what happened to Camelia?
I made my way into the bar and spotted her right away. She was dressed in a stylish punk fashion. No one would imagine she was already a mother.
“What’s up, Camelia?” I asked. I was taken by surprise when I saw her heavy makeup.
From her drowsy look, I could tell that she had drunk a lot before I arrived.
“Hey, Sienna, take a seat!” she greeted and pulled me over to the seat beside her. “Brandy, please. Thanks,” she told the waiter.
“Just a glass of juice would do,” I hastily told the waiter.
“You’re not drinking? We’re at a bar,” Camelia said.
“Well, it’s not a must to order spaghetti if you’re at an Italian restaurant.”
“True. And it doesn’t mean you’ll find love if you’re married,” she said dejectedly.
I knew something must be bugging her. “So, why did you call me over? Not just for a drink, I suppose?”
Camelia gulped her drink and coughed furiously. She was breaking out in tears and started choking badly. “I’ve tried everything I could to become just like you, but he still doesn’t love me. I’ve changed how I talk, how I behave, and even what I like and dislike, but it just doesn’t work. What should I do?”
A frown settled on my brows when I finally knew why she called. Marcus was really a difficult character. He must have put the woman through a lot of ordeals for her to become this haggard.
“Sienna, can you tell me how you made him fall in love with you?” she asked again.
I looked at the desperate woman before me and recalled how attractive she looked when I first saw her on the plane.
She looked at me intently with an imploring gaze, and it broke my heart to see her in this state. “Just leave him, Camelia. Do you still remember how you used to be? You were happy and confident.”
“What did you say?” Camelia looked at me, befuddled.
She was making my heart break. “Do you still remember how you were when we first met? Your blonde hair was shining and you were absolutely stunning. You’re attractive just the way you are. You don’t have to become anyone else. Don’t throw away your unique self just to mimic other people. When you find someone worthy of your love, that person will bring out the best in you, so why give up on yourself for someone who doesn’t even appreciate you?”
Camelia looked lost and helpless. “But I have no one else besides him. Where can I go without him? We already have a child together.”
It was unimaginable how a fruitless relationship could eat away the charm of a woman. “Camelia, you are your own self. If you’re willing to take charge of your own life, you can still find yourself again and be the spirited woman you used to be. Your child should not be your excuse. The White family can take good care of your kid. What you need to think of is how to regain the confidence you’ve lost.”
There were two things women should never stop doing throughout their life. The first was to stay beautiful. They should do everything they could to make themselves attractive. Not for anyone else, but for themselves. The second was to enrich themselves. Women should earn their own money and keep improving themselves. No matter how harsh life was, no one should stop feeding their soul so they could become stronger and more independent.
I didn’t mean to say that women should never believe in true love. The love we were after should be one that made us better, not worse.
I was not sure if Camelia would take my advice seriously. She was wasted and kept complaining about how unfair Marcus was treating her. After all these years, Marcus had even given up on making up lies to her.
When I came to think of it, men were really fascinating creatures. They would always dwell on things they couldn’t get their hands on. However, when they got what they wanted, they would not appreciate and take care of it. They ended up being alone because they stubbornly clung to the love they could not have and pushing away the love they had always had.
Marcus was not John. I could not tell if Marcus would fall for Camelia one day. All I could do was to encourage her to love herself. Regardless of whether she would earn his love one day, one should always care for her own wellbeing before anything else.
Life wasn’t perfect. There were bound to be many regrets in life. Not being with the person we loved as one of those regrets was not a big deal. After all, it was not like romantic love was the only thing in our life.
All of us had to tread down the path of life whether or not we had someone by our side.
I had to say Camelia could really drink. I even lost count of how many glasses of brandy she took before she lay on the table, still muttering for more drinks.
Right after I got her out of the bar, we were met with unwelcomed guests. K City was really not a safe place.
Two drunkards approached us when they saw two of us stumbling out of the bar. “Hey there, sweeties. Craving some company after a drink? How about some fun tonight? I’m sure you’ll be begging for more.”
As the spoke, two of them reached for us.
“Keep your filthy hands to yourself!” A woman’s sharp voice pierced through the night.
I was startled at the woman’s voice. It took me a while to recognize the woman with her heavy makeup on. It was Kristina. Her wig sat awkwardly on her head, and she looked far from appealing.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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